Cricket board attacked for ‘lack of loyalty’ in Paine scandal

Former Cricket Australia chair David Peever, who led the board when Tim Paine became captain, lashed out after criticism from the acting chair.

Former Test cricket captain Tim Paine and wife Bonnie. Picture: Instagram

Focus has moved from Tim Paine’s past indiscretions to Cricket Australia’s handling of the crisis as a former chair attacked the board and players questioned their relationship with head ­office.

Former chair David Peever, who led the board when Paine was appointed to the captaincy in 2018, lashed out on Sunday at the treatment of the former captain and criticism of his administration by acting chair Richard Freudenstein.

David Peever. Picture: AFP

Paine stood down on Friday as details of a sexting incident in 2017 became public. The board and administration of Cricket Australia cleared him of any wrongdoing at the time but said with the benefit of hindsight, that was an error.

“Tim has been an incredible servant of the game and took over leadership of the national team in the most difficult of circumstances. He has led with distinction for more than three years,” Peever told News Corp in an exclusive statement.

“He deserves Cricket Australia’s loyalty and not to be abandoned at this time.

“The event in question occurred four years ago and before Tim was appointed Australian captain. By his own admission, Tim has regretted those actions at that time.

“But after investigation, he was found not to have breached Cricket Australia’s code of conduct or any other rules, and the matter was considered private and consensual between two adults. Why have a code of conduct if you are going to make up your own rules as you go?”

Freudenstein, who says he learned of the investigation two years ago, alleged in a press conference on Saturday that the current administration would not have let Paine continue as captain even though he had been cleared of any breach of the organisation’s code of conduct.

“I can’t talk about the 2018 decision, I wasn’t there. But I am saying based on the facts as they are today, the board of Cricket Australia would not have made that decision,” he said.

“I acknowledge the decision clearly sent the wrong message that this behaviour is acceptable and without serious consequences. The captain of the Australian cricket team has to be held to a very high standard, which is why it is absolutely appropriate that Tim has resigned.”

Former captain Mark Taylor, a Cricket Australia director in 2018. Picture: AFP

Paine co-operated fully with the investigation when he was grilled in Brisbane on the eve of the side’s ODI tour of Britain in May 2018. He handed over his phone and agreed to a data scrape of its contents from the provider, but not all messages could be salvaged. He made a full admission, however, to sexting and sending a lewd image.

The woman who was a former Cricket Tasmania employee would not co-operate.

The investigation concluded it was a consensual exchange between two adults and there was no power imbalance or harassment and noted significant credibility issues with the alleged victim.

Mark Taylor, a director at the time, defended the decision to keep the inquiry quiet but appeared to question the attack on the board. “Three-and-a-half or four years of hindsight is a wonderful thing,” he told Nine’s Sports Sunday.

“I don’t know if he has any more information (than) the integrity unit had of Cricket Australia in 2018. It’s interesting to note that even now, having said that ... they didn’t stand Tim down.

“He stood down, he resigned himself.”

The Australian Cricketers Association said on Friday it felt “saddened that (Paine) felt the need to resign the captaincy”.

Behind the scenes, there is anger that work done to rebuild trust and the administration has been wasted as players realise again that in difficult times they will not find support.

Former captain Ricky Ponting wrote in his autobiography how disappointed he was by the lack of support from the board during the Monkeygate scandal.

Ian Chappell, a long-time critic of the board and administration, resolved when the board sacked Bill Lawry and appointed him that he would never “let the bastards treat me like that”.